Since 1984 - Visual Arts

Visual Arts

Imagine it. Create it. Share it with the world.

At RSA, Visual Arts is a place for ideas to become something tangible. Students are encouraged to experiment, develop technical skill, discover their individual artistic voices, and experience what it means to create work that is meant to be seen.

With an exceptionally diverse range of courses, students can explore traditional and contemporary media through Art I, Art II, Digital Art, Ceramics I & II, 3-D Design, and Animation. Advanced artists can continue their development through AP Art, AP 2-D Art, and AP 3-D Art, building sophisticated bodies of work that reflect increasing technical mastery, creative independence, and personal artistic vision.

That variety means there is no single path through Visual Arts at RSA. A student may begin by learning the fundamentals of drawing and design, discover a passion for ceramics, move into digital media or animation, explore three-dimensional work, or ultimately develop an advanced portfolio. Students are encouraged not simply to learn how to make art, but to begin asking the questions artists ask: What do I want to say? How do I want to say it? And what happens when I share it with someone else?

Art Beyond the Classroom

At RSA, student artwork doesn't stay inside the classroom.

Our artists have opportunities to take their work into the community through events and exhibitions throughout the year. Students participate in the 9/11 Remembrance event and bring their creativity to the Big Fresno Fair Chalk Art Contest, transforming pavement into large-scale works of temporary public art.

Student work also takes center stage during ArtHop, when RSA artwork is exhibited at the Arts Education building in Downtown Fresno. During RSA's assigned exhibition month, student work remains on display for the public, with ArtHop's Third Thursday providing a special opportunity for our young artists to experience something every artist remembers: seeing their work exhibited for an audience beyond their classroom.

These experiences allow students to understand that art can do many things. It can beautify a space. It can preserve memory. It can communicate an idea, provoke thought, celebrate culture, document a moment, or simply make someone stop and look.

Expanding the Creative Pathway

RSA students can also expand their visual arts experience through qualifying courses within our Career Technical Education (CTE) program. Courses including Digital Photography I & II, Yearbook, Videography, Video Production, and Cinematography can count toward RSA arts credit, giving students even more ways to develop their creative and technical abilities.

These courses introduce additional forms of visual storytelling—from capturing a single extraordinary image to documenting a school year or creating stories through moving images. Together with RSA's traditional, digital, and three-dimensional arts offerings, they give students access to an unusually broad creative landscape.

Whether working with pencil, paint, clay, digital tools, animation, photography, or film, RSA students are given the opportunity to explore, experiment, refine their skills, and find the medium that speaks to them.

Because ultimately, Visual Arts at RSA isn't about teaching students to make one kind of art.

It's about helping young artists discover what they have to say—and giving them the skills, opportunities, and confidence to put it into the world.

Visual Arts Program Classes:

Art I: Students learn the basics of art, develop drawing skills, learn to work with many kinds of art materials, learn how to mix and use color, gain a working vocabulary of art terms, and use the elements and principles of design to create original artworks. Art history is introduced. Students work in drawing, painting, collage, and printmaking. Art I is the prerequisite for all advanced two-dimensional courses.
Art II: This course is designed for students who wish to explore a variety of media such as printmaking, fibers and fabrics, pastels, and paints, while emphasizing drawing skills.
Digital Art: Digital Media and Design is a hands-on project-based course where students will explore many facets of digital art created with technology. This course provides entry-level training in art-making through technology. Students will create a variety of digital artworks including Image Manipulation, Digital Drawing, and Digital Painting using their creativity and skills. They will also learn how to integrate multiple images and media into a single product. Students will learn and use a range of computer applications and hardware, through gained knowledge and skills acquired in this class. These abilities will empower students to be more successful in today’s technology-driven society.
Ceramics I: This course focuses on basic techniques for making creative ceramic pieces. Students learn basic formation techniques: pinch, coiling, slab and wheel throwing, decoration, glazing, and firing procedures.
Ceramics II: This course is designed for the study of advanced techniques in the formation and glazing of hand-built and wheel-thrown projects. Students analyze aesthetic qualities of their own and other's work in written and oral forms. Students research historical and cultural influences and apply attributes to their own work.
3-D Design: This course provides an introduction to a wide variety of experiences in creating three-dimensional design. Students apply the elements of art and principles of design in their three-dimensional designs using a variety of materials such as clay, wood, metal, paper-mache, and plaster. Students learn correct and safe use of special tools and equipment. Historical and contemporary three-dimensional arts are introduced. Three-Dimensional Design I is the prerequisite for all advanced three-dimensional courses.
Animation: This course for grades 10-12 immerses students in the dynamic field of animation, focusing on the elements of art and their application in creating 2D and 30 animation images. Students will learn to animate using color, texture, and lighting, culminating in a complete project that includes storyboarding, character creation, and final filming with sound and editing. The curriculum covers the history of animation, industry practices, and essential skills aligned with California Arts Standards, preparing students for future careers in animation and digital media production. The instruction and projects will focus on essential exercises, and projects that meet the skills and knowledge aligned with the California Arts Standards for Visual Arts. n this course, students will delve into the fundamentals of animation, covering its history, design conventions, and rendering techniques. The curriculum emphasizes self-reflection, peer critiques, and script analysis for animation concepts, while also focusing on character design and essential digital skills. Through hands-on projects, students will gain a thorough understanding of the animation process from initial concept to final production.
AP Art 2-D: AP 2-D Art and Design is an introductory college-level two-dimensional design course. Students refine, develop, and apply 2-D skills to ideas they develop throughout the course through materials and processes such as graphic design, photography, collage, printmaking, fashion illustration, collage, and others. Students will create artwork that reflects their own ideas and skills and what has been learned.
AP Studio Art: Drawing: This course is designed for advanced art students who continue to study numerous techniques in the media of choice, art history topics in depth, and prepare portfolio presentations. The course also enables a sustained investigation and development of three sections of the AP Portfolio: the development of an artistic breadth of experience, the student's focus and development of a visual idea defined as a concentration, and the continual process of creating works of great quality & craftsmanship.
AP 3-D Art & Design: The AP 3-D Art and Design course framework presents an inquiry-based approach to learning about and making forms and structures in art and design. Students are expected to conduct an in-depth, sustained investigation of materials, processes, concepts, and ideas in three dimensions. The framework focuses on concepts and skills emphasized within college art and design 3-D foundation courses with the same intent: to help students become inquisitive, thoughtful artists and designers able to create, explore, and develop works as well as to articulate information about their work. AP 3-D Art and Design students develop and apply skills of inquiry and investigation, practice, experimentation, exploration, revision, communication, and reflection.
AP Art History (not offered every year): This course will prepare students for the AP Art History Exam. The course is a survey course and covers art from the Ancient Near East to Postmodernism, inclusive of art outside the European tradition. Students will examine and critically analyze painting, sculpture, architecture and other art forms within their diverse historical and cultural contexts.